Questions tagged [united-states]
Questions that have a specific focus on people in the United States, or American culture.
514
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How can I handle a bisexual friend whom I think is attracted to me?
As some background, I go to a co-ed boarding high school. I have a girlfriend back home and am straight. My wing in the dorms is filled with a large collection of my friends. We're close- we play ...
- 331
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3
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How do I deal with Americans who are trying to force me into tipping? [closed]
I do not support the tipping system. I think it's absolutely repulsive that restaurants don't just pay their employees what they ought to be paid, and instead have them relying on the whims of random ...
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26
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3
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14k
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How to tell a busy professor that I don't mind if he answers my questions when he has time?
I am self-studying a course. Two years ago I began to use some lectures by a professor from the United States (I'm from a different country). He is retired now. While watching his lectures, I began to ...
5
votes
5
answers
1k
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How do you get someone's honest opinion about your cooking?
The flip-side to this question about being asked one's opinion on food they didn't like;
What things should you keep in mind if you have cooked or are cooking a meal for family or friends, and would ...
- 153
8
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6
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3k
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How do I politely say no to a stranger asking to use my phone to make a personal call?
TL;DR
A stranger approached me and asked me if they could use my phone. I didn't want to be rude and say no bluntly, so I wavered, and felt uncomfortable. How do I say no to strangers asking for use ...
- 3,575
38
votes
4
answers
15k
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Asking out an intern at close of internship
There is an intern at my company who has been there for two months. During this time I've helped her briefly on a few projects and we have talked socially at work a little but mostly worked completely ...
user20910
24
votes
3
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9k
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How do I help my girlfriend get out of this dangerous situation with her parents? [closed]
Hello Interpersonal Stack Exchange,
About two weeks ago I posted the question "How do I help my girlfriend defend herself against manipulative parents?". I recommend reading that one first ...
- 379
2
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2
answers
621
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How do I get a second opinion without offending my longtime dentist?
I have been going to my dentist for the past 18 years. It's a family practice: the dentist, his wife (hygienist), his sister-in-law (appointments and billing), and some additional staff I've never ...
- 2,247
18
votes
1
answer
3k
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Breaking up well
Long story short, my ex and I split on pretty poor terms a couple months ago. They cheated again, I moved out, and now they're moving in with the person they cheated with...
I'm trying to "break up ...
- 54.7k
7
votes
2
answers
5k
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How to talk to my sister about not spending as much time with her?
Background:
Growing up, I was always close with my sister because I spent a lot of time with her and told her everything. As I grew older and went to college, I began spending less time with her and ...
user19898
9
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3
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How rude is "ladies first rule" in USA? [closed]
I am a male brazilian (born and living) software developer. I'm part of a remote team with people living in Brazil and in USA (born in other countries as well). We've been working together for 1 month....
- 209
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2
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How to initiate discussions with partner involving previous infidelity?
There a couple things my partner and I are working on in our relationship. Perhaps the most challenging is that there was a cheating incident a little over year ago on their end. We didn't talk for ...
- 22.7k
8
votes
1
answer
490
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How to press to receive updates without sounding obnoxious?
I recently (well, a few months ago now) backed a project on Kickstarter.
It was not my first one, so I was fairly prepared (I thought) to the process.
Well, turned out I was wrong.
Unlike other ...
- 1,071
3
votes
2
answers
795
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How do I send money as wedding gift [closed]
My cousin is getting married. She is considerably younger in age and we live in different parts of the country. I would not be attending the wedding.
I know how much I would like to gift. But how can ...
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5
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4k
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How can I decline to help my teacher with their personal IT problem?
Background
Note: Certain details have been changed for privacy's sake.
I am the go-to person for tech help for my friends (and enemies), family, and teachers. I have helped everyone I know with ...
- 351
12
votes
4
answers
5k
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How do I bring up one-sided sex to my sexually inexperienced girlfriend without pressuring her into anything?
I've been dating my girlfriend for a few months now and I have given oral and fingered her frequently, but that's the furthest she's gone with anyone. I feel like merely bringing up or suggesting ...
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122
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14
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24k
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Is it acceptable to violate table manners in public due to my disability?
I have a tremor, which varies in intensity. I recently ordered a sandwich at a restaurant, which was pretty easy to eat, but I gave up trying to eat the salad, because I was unable to do so with a ...
- 1,437
19
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4
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1k
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How do I make it known to a group of friends that I need a little more patience to communicate with?
I am the kind of person that is quiet until I feel welcomed in a group of people, and even then, I still am relatively quiet until spoken to.
Important information to consider:
I am deaf with ...
- 3,575
16
votes
3
answers
12k
views
How do I help my girlfriend defend herself against manipulative parents?
Some Background
My girlfriend's family moved to the US about 2 years ago to escape their home country (which is going through political and economic turmoil) to start over. Her mom sells insurance, ...
- 379
4
votes
2
answers
541
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How to ask if I can use a rewards/points card at a paid lunch?
I am meeting with a recruiter, and she is taking me to lunch (paid for by her company) at restaurant that is local to my company's location. She is unlikely to have a loyalty card at this place ...
- 407
22
votes
5
answers
8k
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Attending the 9/11 Memorial next month - how to interact with families that lost loved ones?
A couple of us are planning to visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York next month on September 11th itself; it would be our first time visiting the memorial. I want to be careful to not treat the event as ...
102
votes
11
answers
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Complimenting a female co-worker without coming across as flirting?
I am asking this question for a friend. My friend is straight, male, and married to a woman and loyal to his wife. He is a somewhat socially awkward person.
He works in an office of software ...
- 3,575
2
votes
3
answers
1k
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How to interact with someone whose close friend group seems to dislike you?
Here's the progression of events with me and this friend group:
I met and dated a girl
I met some of this girl's friends. I got along with them just fine.
The girl wasn't romantically interested in ...
user20417
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to develop friendship without money? [closed]
I have a dilemma, I'm living in USA and I'm from Latin America (I'm learning to speak English too) so I'm trying to make some friends, I've already found a girl that is very nice, and she wants to ...
- 107
35
votes
7
answers
11k
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Encouraging bystanders to step up
I ran into a rather nasty one this past weekend. I was out with a close friend at a party and could very clearly hear people making exceptionally nasty homophobic and transphobic comments, up to and ...
- 54.7k
85
votes
10
answers
27k
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I offered to help neighbor, how to discuss compensation?
I saw my neighbor post on social media that they wanted help with some computer related tasks. We have never met or had any interaction before. I offered to come help them for no compensation. They ...
- 1,193
5
votes
2
answers
3k
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How do I distance myself from a coworker/friend?
I've been at an internship for the past 9 weeks. At the beginning of the period, I became close with two other interns, Alex and Sue, as we all started on the same day. However, as the internship has ...
- 159
4
votes
1
answer
691
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How can I encouragingly critique my budding photography friend?
My very close friend (I consider her a sibling) is asking for help with promoting their photography on social media to get their amateur photography business off the ground, but they have only a ...
- 3,575
2
votes
1
answer
1k
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How do I tactfully ask for my hotel room to be cleaned more thoroughly? [closed]
I am doing some temporary work for a few months and the company is paying for my housing in a nearby hotel. The room comes with typical housekeeping service to clean the sheets, bathroom, etc. I have ...
- 131
3
votes
3
answers
7k
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How do I respond to someone saying "thanks for waiting" after a long wait I wasn't okay with? [closed]
Recently, I was in a line at the supermarket where the person ahead of me took nearly 10 minutes to resolve a payment issue with their order (usually, payment takes 30 seconds to a minute). When that ...
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-3
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1
answer
715
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How do I handle staying at friend's apartment in which the bathroom offers insufficient privacy? [closed]
I will be going on a business trip to the Chicago area, about 1 hour away from the city I think. My friend lives in the city and she has very kindly offered to host me for the weekend after and show ...
- 2,247
8
votes
3
answers
1k
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How to ask a coworker if (and why) they don't like me?
I (male) recently started a very corporate job. I'm a recent grad so I'm younger than most of my coworkers, most of which are married/have kids. I get along pretty well with all of them.
There is ...
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6
answers
2k
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How can I talk to my brother about spanking his child?
I recently found out that my brother spanks his son, who is four. I overheard my parents talking about a recent incident where my brother spanked his child. I don't know any details other than the ...
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23
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12
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13k
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Polite way to ask how to pronounce name with sounds outside local language?
In my experience, it is not common practice for native English speakers in the United States to attempt to pronounce non-English sounds, such as gutturals or trills.
So say I meet a new colleague ...
- 331
5
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3
answers
1k
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How to give constructive feedback to a restaurant owner when they ask after a meal?
So I had a interesting incident recently, and I wonder if I addressed it properly.
My friend and I stumbled into an amazing Mexican place after an event we attended. This restaurant was sort low-key, ...
- 273
3
votes
1
answer
879
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How do I help my girlfriend open up? [closed]
So a little background on our relationship.
We've been dating for about a year and a half now. We're now getting to the conversation of marriage and I'm super excited to see what the future holds. ...
5
votes
4
answers
4k
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How to Handle Judgmental Sibling
My older sibling always seems to judge me and undermine my interests and achievements. We both graduated from reputable universities in our respective fields (mine being technology and theirs being ...
- 2,869
36
votes
5
answers
9k
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How can I tactfully discuss the intentions of an online acquaintance before meeting?
I recently accepted the friend request of a guy on Facebook. We shared a couple mutual friends, so I assumed we had met at a college party somewhere in the last few years. As it turns out, we haven't ...
- 22.7k
3
votes
2
answers
765
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How/whether to let people know I don't like receiving flowers?
My husband and I have never liked cut flowers, although we always accepted them graciously when they were given to us. It seemed a shame for people to spend money on something we don't like, but we ...
- 295
0
votes
2
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389
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How to tell family Dr I am content helping my dad who has multiple health issues
This has been bothering me for some time now.
My Dad has multimorbidity, i.e. numerous health issues that can be treated by being a self-advocate, and not giving up (it's easy to feel discouraged ...
- 135
0
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1
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How to approach a narcissist parent about their unkind and unreasonable treatment of a sibling?
TL;DR: My dad is calling my sister an embarrasment while I'm the "golden child" that seems to do most things right in his eyes. My dad seems to not realize that me and my sister talk often, and she ...
- 3,575
43
votes
13
answers
72k
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Talking to boyfriend about his close female friends
About our relationship:
My boyfriend and I have been together happily for two years now. We both love each other very much and we're always growing closer. We're planning to move in together in a few ...
- 531
10
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3
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4k
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How to tell my roommates that I want to move out ASAP when they say they rely on my rent?
I recently graduated from college, out of state from my hometown, and got a job here. A friend of mine and her husband offered to let me stay with them for very little rent until I could find a place ...
- 574
37
votes
2
answers
15k
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How to explain that we are not comfortable with a new boyfriend staying at our house?
My wife is having a friend stay over with us at the end of the month for a visit. The friend asked if she could bring her new (~2 months) boyfriend along as well. We are not comfortable with this for ...
user19640
8
votes
1
answer
543
views
How should I present the idea of doing repairs and minor renovations to my landlord?
TL;DR: I'm a competent and careful handyman who cares deeply about the quality of my work. I'd like to present the idea of doing repairs and minor renovations to my rental for only the cost of ...
- 683
8
votes
3
answers
603
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How can I properly express my true academic and career ambitions to my father?
I'm currently a junior/senior in High School, currently looking for colleges. My father has taken it upon himself to help me find a college that would best suit what he believes to be my ambitions: a ...
- 181
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5
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3k
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What to say to steer passive-aggressive narcissist parent(s) away from saying guilt-tripping statements to me or other people?
My relationship with my dad has been rocky the past 9+ years. After divorcing my mom when I was 16, (I am 25 now) his passive-aggressive narcissist behavior has become more prevalent.
For example, he ...
- 3,575
9
votes
3
answers
2k
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How to approach a person that has stood me up several times?
Background:
I met this person, S at a church I was attending at the time (I changed churches for different reasons). We became friends, because we had a few common interests, and I wanted to help S ...
- 3,575
10
votes
2
answers
828
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How do I deal with accents and my audio processing issues without annoying people?
I'm fairly certain that I have audio processing disorder - basically, I can hear sounds just fine, but I seriously struggle with comprehending what I hear, as I will often misunderstand words or have ...
- 103
2
votes
4
answers
839
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How to keep passengers off the phone
I am often the driver for friends and family whenever we travel, whether short or long distances. This is mostly due to the fact that I have the best track record, reflexes, judgement, etc. on the ...
- 3,260